


Awake on a Plane

by happy_birthday_diane_use_a_pretty_font



Category: Archer (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 16:19:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12346242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happy_birthday_diane_use_a_pretty_font/pseuds/happy_birthday_diane_use_a_pretty_font
Summary: Krieger and Ray on a plane. (This is set like RIGHT after arrival/departure)





	Awake on a Plane

Things had settled down on the plane. The cabin was mostly dark, except for the ghostly green glow of the nerve gas canister (safely strapped into its seat).  
For the most part, everyone was sleeping soundly. It wasn't only their wild day that tired them, but the past year. Finally safe on the plane, suspended too high for the usual chaos to reach them, they rested for once. Curled up on the couches, chairs, and floor of the cabin, most of the gang resembled sleeping children; a comparison even more acute when you take into account that several of them were drooling (Cyril).  
Ray, for one, did not resemble a peacefully slumbering child. He resembled a convenience store hot dog, because as he laid on the floor trying to rest, he found himself tossing and turning over and over almost continuously. He felt it in his bones that if he could smoke, he could get to sleep, but he couldn't. Not only was he in an enclosed space, he was in an enclosed space with a baby, so there was really no to get away with it.. That made him even more agitated, because he found himself resenting the hours-old baby.. Eventually, he went and sat by the window so he could simulate the sensation of smoking.  
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in...  
Ray peered out the window at the vast expanse of barren ocean outside. It looked so flat and hopeless and never ending yet never changing either. It got on his nerves.   
Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out...And a gasp.  
He cast a sidelong glance at the nerve gas. To his surprise, he ended up making eye contact with Krieger, who was still awake, and huddled in a seat beside the canister several windows down.  
Krieger looked around. "I - I wasn't staring at you," he whisper-shouted down the aisle. "You sighed wistfully out the window, like, literally two seconds ago so I looked over and you just turned - "  
Ray just waved him off and turned back to the window. Something about the fact that his train of thought had been interrupted made the view below even more unbearable. He put his head in his hands and sat there. He was vaguely aware of the sound of movement to his side, and felt someone sit next to him on the floor, not very close, but not very far. It was a polite distance. It was, of course, Krieger.  
"Are you...alright?" Krieger asked. That was a bit of a strange question. It was common knowledge that Krieger was only a human being by the most technical definition; Everything from his moral compass to his general attitude to his lab coat tended to transcend societal rules. But from the look in his eyes, Ray could tell he was genuinely asking, and that Krieger was willing to put a tremendous amount of effort into understanding whatever answer Ray said, and even to give advice and comfort. His idea of it, anyway. Ray realized they had been through a lot together.  
He was touched.   
He patted the ground next to him, and the other man scooted closer. Gazing back over the ocean, Ray whispered, "I just feel like we've been doing the same shit for like, ever. And like nothing's ever gonna change." He chuckled bitterly. "I mean, maybe it's just me. Most people would find unloading a tonne of cocaine at least a little exciting, but it's really just ISIS's business-as-usual, and now we're gonna be whored out to the C.I.A. cheaper than a homely middle daughter and I just..." He noticed Krieger was smiling excitedly. "...Oh, go to hell."  
"No! Oh, Ray come on!" said Krieger as Ray sat back in his earlier spot in the corner. He pursued the blonde. "I was smiling for a reason," he told the back of Ray's head. "I actually have something for this."  
Ray turned toward him slightly.  
"Alright. So, Lana had a baby."  
"Wow, really are a genius."  
"No, listen! Wouldn't you say Lana's life was pretty consistent up until that point? Constantly having to make up for Archer's mistakes and barely ever getting credit, and being made fun of for her hands? Now she has a taste of something entirely new."  
"Uh huh, so you're telling me to have a baby because I'm bored or some shit? Or-Wait, Krieger, I swear to God, whatever unholy spawn you're trying to convince me to carry, you can just forget about it, I swe-!"  
"No! Ugh, how do I explain this correctly?" Krieger leaned back on the wall next to Ray and thought for a short while. "Alright. How about this: Would you describe me as consistent?"  
Ray considered. His knee-jerk reaction was no way! Every day there was some new project, some new creature, some new...smell, that Krieger was discovering. But that was just it; you could always count on him to surprise you.  
"You're...consistently inconsistent."  
"Precisely!" Krieger grinned. "On some scale, everything has a level of stability, so the only way to combat that feeling is to deviate. Consistent inconsistency is much more satisfying than consistent consistency, because at least that way you're evolving and..." Krieger continued illustrating his point. Ray's eyes wandered over Krieger's face as the man continued patiently advising him. His green eyes were engaged with interest, and his hair and beard were somehow nearly as tidy as usual despite the ordeal they'd just been through in San Marcos. Ray listened to the man's whisper over the sound of the others' snoring and the engine and bubbling nerve gas, but he was listening to Krieger's voice more than his words, (although he managed to pick up on the phrases "Do something crazy...!" and "experimentation, right?") and noticed it was very deep and manly. He was suddenly aware of how handsome Krieger was.  
Ray swooped in and kissed Krieger. The other man was surprised, but after several seconds his eyes fluttered shut and he reciprocated. He was a timid and gentle kisser, though his beard scratched. It was pleasant though. While Ray was leaned over, resting his weight on Krieger's chest, Krieger's hand reached up and stroked his cheek with care. Ray ran his hands through the other man's hair over and over, messing it up, back and forth.  
Before it got too heated, Ray broke the kiss. Their faces only inches away, he gazed at Krieger's eyes, which were sparkling in the toxic green glow that encompassed the plane.   
"How's that for crazy?"  
"Uh..."  
"Am I crazy? We just kissed, is that-"  
"I'm really not-"  
"Would it make me more crazy or less crazy to do that again?"  
"I'm-let's find out!" There was a beat. "You know. For science."  
"Fuck science." They were soon on the floor on top of each other, careful not to disrupt their sleeping friends or the nerve gas.


End file.
